


When The Deads Awaken

by Glorifying1D



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Harry, Cheeky Harry, Crimes & Criminals, Fantasy, Fluff, Gay, Gay Sex, Harry Lives In The Future, Louis Travels In Time, Love, M/M, Magic, Multi, Niall Horan & Louis Tomlinson Friendship, Romance, Smut, Time Travel, Top Louis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-23 12:44:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2547905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glorifying1D/pseuds/Glorifying1D
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis Tomlinson didn't know how it was possible. All he knew was that he found a mysterious clock in his basement, and now he was here, twenty years into the future. He had no idea what was expecting him, or rather who. Soon he learns that love is the most dangerous magic of all, even more dangerous than traveling in time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

London, May 2014.

Louis Tomlinson held the cold object in his dirty, swollen hands. A sense of electricity shot through his veins. The viscous thing in his small hands seemed to be inseparable from his touch. It was as if it belonged to a somewhat hellish world that Louis had yet to discover. He was seized with the sudden urge to find out more about how this thing had ended up in his old basement, when he was certainly aware of the fact that he hadn't seen such a strange looking thing in that place. In fact, he hadn't seen it anywhere. The object resembled a fairly and quite decent looking small clock. It looked like an old one, and it surely appeared like it had been resting under the filthy sheets in the basement for quite some time because it was fully surrounded with dust. Louis made an attempt at brushing the dust off, taking a better look at the thing he was considering to call a clock. A faint gleam was visible on the clock. Louis could see that there were five buttons on the thing. He had absolutely no idea what meaning and use each of these buttons had, but being the curious person he's always been, he felt sort of determined to find out.  
"What do you think it is?" A low voice that belonged to his bestfriend, Niall, asked him impatiently. There was a reason why Niall was his best mate. They both shared a similar sense of curiosity, and an interest to discover new things.  
"Most likely a clock. Look at the numbers. It reads 15:43," he replied. 15:43 was exactly the time then.  
Niall shrugged and made himself more comfortable in the ground as he was sitting next to Louis with his knees pressed against his chest. "What's with those buttons?" he continued asking.  
A frustrated sigh left Louis' mouth. "Wish I knew."  
"Why don't you try to find out? Press one of them," Niall suggested.  
"I bet they're just music buttons. You know, the ones that you press and then music magically blurts out?" Louis chuckled, getting lost in memories.  
"Whatever. I'm still curious about this shit. Would you please press one because I'm starting to get a little annoyed over here."  
Louis rolled his hollow blue eyes. "Fine. But if it really is just music, then I want you to clean my room for me because I'm too lazy to do it myself," he grinned slyly, giving his friend a look that couldn't possibly mean anything but trouble.  
"Is that a bet?"  
"You can say so."  
"I'm in," said Niall as he blinked away the dust that was not so mercifully gathering around his eyes. "And if it's not music, I'd like to challenge you into cleaning my room. Sounds fair, doesn't it?"  
Louis nodded carelessly. He was so used to make bets on technically anything, in any type of situation. He found it useless to hesistae any longer, and quickly pressed one of the shining gold buttons, the first one that he randomly layed his eyes on. True to his former words, music immediately begun to rise through the air and mingle itself with Louis' pleasent laughter. "I fucking knew it," he half shouted mostly to himself. "Now get your ass up, mate. You've got some cleaning to --" He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence when he felt an undeniably cold breeze rush through his fingers. Why did he suddenly feel so cold? His first intention was to ignore the matter, but the strange coldness of the clock was only getting worse. It was a feeling similiar to the way one would've felt if they had their hands inside a fridge. Only that this time it was even colder than that. It was freezing.  
"Are you okay?" Niall asked concerned, noticing the way Louis' hands were shivering violently and the way his cheeks had lost their bright red colour.  
"Y-yeah," Louis tried to reply but was suddenly bombed with the urge to doze off. His eyes were getting extremely heavy it was out of his powers to keep them open. He wished he knew what in the world was going on. He certainly knew one thing though, the clock or whatever it was had caused him all of this.  
"Louis ... you're scaring me. What the fuck is happening?"  
Niall's worried and shaken voice was the last thing he heard before he drifted off into an endlessly dark tunnel that had no signs of leading to anywhere.


	2. Chapter 1

Chicago , December 2034.

 

Cold.

That's how Louis felt when he finally woke up. His eyelids were painfully slowly opening up, letting him get a full view of the surroundings around him. Though all he sincerely wanted to do, was to go back to sleep again. Every inch of his body was screaming at him to do so, but he knew he shouldn't. He let out a groan as he sat up with great reluctance, glancing around what seemed to be a street. People were everywhere in sight. They were walking from a place to another. Nothing unusual, except this time it was.

The coldness had begun to bother him once again, without him having any idea what the source of it was. That was until he looked down at the ground he was currently sitting on.

Snow.

That was the thing below him, the thing that was unmistakably covering every single part of the ground. He looked up with wide eyes to get the confirmation he needed. Yes, it really was snowing everywhere. And that fact scared him to the point where he quickly rose to his feet, panting slightly and swallowing to get rid of the horrible taste he had somehow gained in his mouth. He cursed under his breath. How could this be possible? He was certainly sure that it was spring just a day ago. How could it possibly be winter already within a day?

That led Louis into asking himself another question. Where in the world was he? He was most definitely not in London. He had lived there long enough to recognize that fact.

He ran a hand through his hair, and suddenly he wasn't shocked anymore, he was utterly terrified. Nothing made sense at the moment. He tried to remember the last thing that had happened before he found himself in this place. Right, he was hanging out with Niall like he's always done. They were planning to watch a new movie down in his basement because that's where his little movie theater was at. And then he found it. The clock, or so it resembled. He pressed one of the five buttons on the clock, and now ... he was here, in the middle of nowhere. The only logical explanation that Louis had for all of this, was that this was just a part of a sick and twisted nightmare, but unfortunatly he was rather convinced that that was not the case here.

He wasn't dreaming. But if he wasn't dreaming, what other explanation would there be? The clock. Louis' heart skipped a beat in fear as the thought of the clock returned his mind. That was the last thing he remembered before passing out. There was no way that the clock didn't have anything to do with him being here. Knowing that, he made a quick and determined attempt at finding it. Maybe he still had it somewhere, he just begged that the somewhere was close enough. And much to his surprise, it was. He grabbed the familiar clock that was laying in his pocket out to study it carefully under the glowing sunshine. He didn't care that he was freezing to death, a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants being the only piece of clothing he owned. All he could think about was _how_ and _why_.

"What are you?" he whispered to the clock as if it had ears. "What have you done to me?"

He brought the object closer to his reddened face, and that was when he noticed that there were no longer five bright buttons on it, there were only four of them left now. It might be because he had already used one of them. Louis tried to put the pieces togheter, the crave to figure out everything flared up in his body. If the pressing of the button was the cause of his presence here, then couldn't he simply just press another one and go back to where he came from?

He decided against it. He didn't know, neither did he understand a thing about the clock or its mysteriously hidden and rare powers. He couldn't risk it. For all he knew, maybe if he pushed another one, it would only lead into him finding himself in a completely new place that was far away from home. Before he did anything, he had to make sure he knew how the clock worked and most importantly where he was right now. Louis' eyes scanned the streets. He struggled to keep his teeth from gritting as he looked around for something or someone that could give him the very answer he was looking for.

Soon, his attention landed on a tall and neatly masculine body across from him. A brown-haired man was standing next to a tree, reading something that looked like a magazine. He was so drowned in whatever he was reading that he didn't even realize the close presence of Louis next to him. Louis had wrapped his arms around himself, made sure to make his breathing more even. He coughed lightly to get the man's attention, and smiled weakly when it worked.

"Hi," Louis managed to get out between his trembling lips. His voice sounded so weak and low due to the coldness that he was frankly taken aback when the man actually heard him.

"Hello. Do you need anything, sir?" The stranger asked him friendly, a sweet and warm smile was lingering on his lips. Louis praised himself mentally for finding somebody who seemed genuinely interested in helping him.

"W-well, I was wondering --"

"Holy shit!" The man suddenly yelled in surprise, interrupting Louis. "What the hell are you wearing? Who the hell wears a freaking T-shirt when it's minus fiften degrees?" He was pointing histerically to Louis' outfit, wearing a very shocked expression that Louis just couldn't blame him for. For a brief second, he was considering wheter he should tell the man the real reason why, but the thought vanished from his mind as soon as it appeared. There was no way that a stranger would believe him. What could he possibly say anyway? That he found a bizarre clock and then he magically flew into a place he's never been in?

Louis simply chuckled in response. If he couldn't tell him the truth, he at least had to play it off as nothing so that the man wouldn't get too suspicious and start questioning him. "I just like it cold, I guess. Don't worry," he tried to smile but knew that it had come off as a little too fake and forced.

The man shrugged unconvinced. "Whatever you say, mate," he scoffed. "Now, was there anything you needed to know?"

Louis sighed in relief, glad that the conversation about his choice of clothing was over. "Yeah, actually," he tried to think of a way to ask this question without making a complete fool out of himself. "Do you happen to know where we are right now?"

"We're in Street 13," he answered casually.

"No," Louis shook his head. "I meant where _are_ we? As in ... what city?"

The man narrowed his thick eyebrows as if he’s just experienced the hearing of the lamest joke of all time. «You don’t know?» All he received as a reply was a weak _no_ from Louis. «But how come?»

Louis blinked dizzily, already getting tired of the man’s curiosity. It was Louis who craved some necessary answers right now, not him. «Long story,» he sighed. «Could you just please tell me?» he almost begged, not caring at all whether he seemed desperate or not.

The man pursed his thin lips in a flat line as if he was accepting defeat. «Okay then,» he began. «Chicago. We’re in Chicago.» The word fell neatly from his lips, making Louis’ eyes wider than he’d ever imagined he had the ability to get them. If he didn’t feel scared for life a moment earlier, he certainly was now. Suddenly, everything made sense, and Louis had to mentally curse at himself for not having realized it sooner. That the man’s great American accent should give it away ever since he opened his mouth to let a word out. «I suppose you must be British. Your accent is pretty obvious,» he chuckled but Louis was so drown in his terrifying thoughts that he didn’t hear anything any longer. In fact, he didn’t _want_ to hear anything. The reality around him was only getting worse and worse. But he was specifically not very fortunate. He had to know despite how scarier it all would get.

So he just straightened his back muscles, trying his hardest to pretend like everything was in perfect order when it was the exact opposite he was encountering. «W-why is it winter here already? Wasn’t winter supposed to come to Chicago in more than seven months or something?» _Why am I even in America to being with?_ Louis thought.

The guy ran his tongue over his lower lip, wearing an expression that undeniably pointed at the fact that he was indeed bewildered. He stared at Louis as if he owned four heads. «Are you sure you’re not too cold? You’re talking pure nonsense right now. Why should the winter wait until seven months to arrive? Spring and autumn are already over, so winter was damned to come,» he finished, his tone sounding extremely confused due to Louis’ odd behaviour.

Louis opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. He was speechless and it was assuredly not the good kind. He struggled to keep himself from freaking out. «Wait--w-what year is it?» he dared to ask, not knowing whether his stammering was a result of the weather or because he felt frightened right now.

«What?» said the man, this time he seemed emphatically shocked and even a little scared. «You’re really scaring me now, mate. Have you damaged your head? Oh, man, don’t tell me you have amnesia or some shit.»

«Just answer me!» Louis shouted all of a sudden, not having the slightest bit of remorse for making the guy jump back in horror. He didn’t need questions right now. He needed answers.

«Alright, alright. Calm down, dude,» the guy tried to soothe him. It didn’t work. «It’s 2034, okay?»

Louis’ breath hitched. He looked at the man’s thoughtful brown eyes, but his focus and attention were totally elsewhere.


	3. Chapter 2

He didn’t realize he was sobbing until a faint trace of tears were rolling down his cheeks. Cloudiness clustered about him entirely. The murmurs of a concerned voice was barely audible, but he could still make out the _are you okay_ and the _what’s wrong_ that have been asked of him repeatedly with no effect.  

Louis shook his head in utter incredulity. «I just want to go home …» When the words left his mouth, he became conscious of how much he really meant them.

The man surprisingly still stood there, comforting Louis sympathetically by laying a hand on his shoulder as the other boy’s knees were slowly giving up on him. «Okay …» the guy whispered. «I’ll take you home. Where do you live?»

The question only made Louis’ throat tighten up even more, and his knees finally gave up as he landed painfully on the cold ground. Home. He couldn’t help but speculate about wheter he would ever be able to find his way back home again. «I don’t know … I don’t think I have a home anymore.» Louis breathed, his voice cracking.

The man stared at him weirdly. His hand still massaging Louis’ shoulder with comfort. «So …» he began hesitantly. «You’re homeless? Don’t tell me your parents kicked you out or something.» He attempted poorly to lighten up the mood, and his crooked smile fell when he didn’t receive any in return.

Louis had mercifully stopped crying his eyes out, but the stinging pain in his chest was becoming ten times more unbearable now. He analysed the man’s words in his mind for a minutt, making himself ponder over what his parents were doing right now? Were they even alive? His eyes started watering once more when the heartbreaking thought that they may have forgotten him passed his mind. «No … _I_ lost them,» Louis replied, realizing that it was partly true.

The man’s features gave away an understanding and compassionate expression. «Oh, I’m sorry, man. When did that happen?»

Louis’ gaze was still lingering on the snow covered ground. He could sense his bones turning into ice but he’d rather have that happen than being in this position. He chuckled bitterly, «Apparently twenty years ago.» He knew for sure that swalloing all of these informations was making the man become almost as confused as he was, but there was no other way for him to answer such questions.

A pensive silence sat between the two until one of them decided to break it wiht a deep sigh and following words. «Listen, I don’t know if you have amnesia, if you’re just intoxicated or if it’s something else, but I’m willing to help you out with whatever it is,» the man smiled sweetly. «Why don’t you come to my house now? You could take a shower and dress up a little more customizable, you know? And then we could sit and figure out what you should do next. Doesn’t it sound good?» he asked Louis who shook his head almost immediately.

«I don’t want to bother you, sir. I’ll figure out something on my own.» It wasn’t just because he refused to be a bother, mostly it was because he knew better than to accept a stranger’s offer. 

«You’re not bothering me, mate. I do genuinely wish to help you, and it’s not as if you’ll be staying at my place forever. It’s just for tonight, until you settle everything out, okay?» he tried again.

Louis sighed. The yearning for an excuse to decline was slowly becoming weaker, and he couldn’t think of another considerable place to spend the night at either. Right now, all he needed to do was stand under the hot streaming water of the shower and let his mind wander. «Fine,» he finally gave in. «But just for tonight.»

The man’s smile widened, forming small wrinkles under his eyes. «Deal. Now let’s get you in the car.»

\----

Louis made an unattainable effort to keep his shivering dimly, but nothing seemed to work. It was not only the cold winter air that hit him hardly, causing him to tremble uncontrollably violently, it was also what the reality around him. Regardless of how much effort he’d put into understanding this situation, he just couldn’t. If he was fortunate enough, perhaps there was a way he could find out exactly how the clock worked so that he could be blessed with the opportunity of taking in control of it.

Louis’ mind was so occupied with alarming thoughts that he didn’t notice when the car he was driven in came to a sudden stop. The brown-haired man sat firmly on the driver's seat with his massive hand laying on top of the steering wheel as he turned to face Louis. «We’re here,» he let out a low sigh, pointing to a white house across the street with his chin.

Louis turned around and the sight of a colossus, beautifully designed mansion hit him hard in the face. He looked back at Liam with his mouth hanging open to get the verification that he was indeed looking at the right house, and he undoubtedly was based on the small nod the man sent his direction. «Do you …» he began. «Do you live here?» He tried to look over the man once more. Nothing about him resembled an incredibly rich guy living in a place like this.

The man let out a laugh, catching the look of total astonishment he was getting from Louis. «I do. Guess you weren’t expecting that.»

Louis let his head hang down shyly, unsure of how to repond without sounding ridiculous and chose to just let his eyes admire the elegant piece of art in front of him, the kind of house that he’d always dreamed of.

«Oh, and by the way, before we go out, I should probably tell you that I don’t live here alone,» the man said. Louis’ eyes left the house and focused on the hesitated look the guy was giving him, making him fear the chance that what he was hearing wasn’t good news. «Don’t worry, man. It’s not my girlfriend or anything. It’s just a friend of mine,» he finished, knowing that Louis would probably feel uncomfortable observing him and his girlfriend being intimate with each other. «You don’t mind that, do you?»

Louis chuckled a little to lighten up the mood. «Of course not. Figured you couldn’t live in such a huge house all by yourself.»

«Yeah,» he agreed, smiling as memories seemed to flash his mind. «It’d be weird if I didn’t have that little fucker ruin everyday for me,» he shook his head. «But don’t be concerned though. He’s actually a genuine guy, just not very willing to show it.» He shrugged as if it was no big deal, and was just about to open his door to get out the car but suddenly stopped himself in the middle of the action. «By the way, we have talked for the past hour or so, and I still don’t know your name,» he reminded Louis.

«Louis,» he said softly. «Yours?»

«Liam. Welcome to my _casa_.»

\----

The man, who now had a name, knocked harshly on his front door after explaining to Louis how he had forgotten his keys and how the ringbell didn’t work either because his room-mate had practically broke it just a day ago when he was actually trying to _fix_ it. Laim groaned when no sign of his friend came to view. «He never sits his arse down. I have never seen a twenty three year old with such energy, but of course when it comes to opening doors, he’s suddenly willing to act his age,» Liam scoffed, referring to the friend that he shared his mansion with.

«Maybe he can’t hear us,» Louis suggested, fully aware of the fact that he was just lying to make Liam feel better.

«Fucking prick!» Louis heard someone shriek in detestation, and the sound of a loud smack replaced the silence in the air as a stinging pain rose to his cheek speedily. His vision had begun to blurry awfully bad, and he could even taste the blood the was gathering at the back of his throat as his knees lost their strength and he fell to the ground.

«What the fuck, Harry?» Liam screamed at his room-mate before kneeling down in front of Louis, shaking his fragile and icy cold body gently. «Louis? Are you okay?»

No response.

«Louis?» he tried again, louder, and much to his pleasure, he received a small whimper from Louis in return this time. «Thank God, you’re not passed out.»

«W-what happened?» Louis asked, forcing himself slowly into a sitting position.

«Oh, fuck,» an unfamiliar voice who Louis assumed belonged to Liam’s friend spoke up. «I-I’m so sorry.» He knelt down in front of Louis as well, ignoring the way Liam’s harsh glares were burning through his soul. «I thought you were my boyfriend. You guys knocked exactly like him,» he tried to clarify, staring down at Louis with wide eyes that accentuated the bright shade of green his eyes contained. He looked endearingly innocent as opposed to the way he behaved less than a minutt ago, and his inevitable softly- looking curly locks hung all over the place in his face, covering the crease that was making its way up to his forehead.

Despite the beating pain in his cheek, Louis couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. «So this is how you welcome your boyfriend?»

«Stop talking, you two,» commanded Liam sternly. «Harry, do one thing right in your life and help me carry Louis inside. He’ll be staying with us tonight.»

«What? Why?» Harry questioned, kinda rudely if Louis might’ve add.

Liam wholly disregarded his friend and made an effort to help Louis to his feet, giving Harry the hint that the discussion was over and that he had no other option but to obey.

\----

Harry let out a forgery, annoyingly dramatic groan in weariness before dropping Louis’ small body on the nearest couch, making Louis feel like there was an empty hole being made inside of him at the sudden loss of contact.

Harry put on an exaggerating show by stretching out his long arms as if he’d just done the most intense and hefty work known to human. «Holly Jesus, think I desperately need to attend the gym again.»

Liam, who had at some point disappeared from Louis’ sight, walked smugly back into the living room, holding a glass of water in one hand and a cozy blanket in another. «Oh, cut it. You’re acting like you were the only one who carried him. In fact, _I_ was the one who did most of the job,» he skifted his gaze at Louis and smiled warmly at him. «Here, mate.» He put the warm blanket over Louis’ trembling body before offering him to drink the water, which he gladly did. The disgusting taste he previously had in his mouth combined by the taste of blood, thanks to Harry, were finally both gone. He sighed in relief, a relief that vanished as soon as it became apparent when he recalled everyhting that had happened since the second he woke up in year 2034. What was he supposed to do now? How _could_ he find more information about the clock without getting anybody suspicious?

His thoughts got interrupted when Harry scoffed loudly, sitting down on the coush as well. «Well, it’s not my fault that he’s heavily overweight and impossible to carry,» he said, not even looking at Louis to acknowledge the hurt in his eyes. «Though, I gave it a go anyway because I considered it my punishment for punching him in the first place.»

Liam shook his head very much like a disappointed parent would do, and turned to get an eye contact with Louis instead who’s shivering had become way steadier, before squeezing his shoulder lightly in an attempt to comfort him. «Don’t listen to him, Louis,» he sighed deeply before changing the subject. «I suppose you better take a warm shower afterwards, then come back for dinner. What would you like to eat?»

Louis opened his mouth to say that whatever was fine, but another voice spoke up instead of his own. «Steak would be awesome, Liam. Make sure to add a little bit more pepper this time though because last time the steak was _so_ bitter it tasted like my grandfather’s sperm.» Harry made a funny grimace that Louis couldn’t help but chuckle at whereas Liam’s expression remained bored and unbothered.

«Firstly, I didn’t ask you for your irrelevant opinion,» Liam said to Harry. «Secondly, how do you know your grandfather’s sperm tastes bitter? Don’t tell me he’s on the list of all the guys you’ve given blow jobs to.» Astonishingly, his tone did not sound sarcastic at all. Louis cringed a little at the image of Harry’s curly hair pressed into a random man’s stomach as he was on his knees, moving his head back and forth on a steady pace.

Harry didn’t seem at all troubled by the fact that a complete stranger was sitting there, getting filled with needless particulars about his sex life. «I know I’m a player, Liam, but I’m truly against incest.»

Liam rolled his eyes, facing Louis with a look that he could only recall as a caring one. «Is steak fine?»

Louis could only nod and watch as Liam made his way toward the corner of the house, a place he assumed would have been the kitchen.

«He cheated on me, you know,» Harry suddenly spoke up, making Louis’ head snap into his direction. And he realized it was the first time since he landed his eyes on the boy that he truly paid attention to him. His curls weren’t so messy anymore, making his hair’s length more visible. His enormous sweater covered the very muscles that Louis could sense were hidden behind. And despite how cold it was outside, the fresh mild air inside the house was rather unignorable, which was probably the reason why Harry was wearing a pair shorts. Louis thought it looked adorably appealing that the boy was sitting there, wearing a _sweater_ along with _shorts_ , two piece of clothing that would rather never match neatly. Harry wore a unreadable frown on his face, studying the ground instead of Louis.

«Who?» Louis asked dumbfounded. His voice resembling nothing but a weak whisper.

« _Who_?» The boy repeated in an offensively mocking tone. «My boyfriend, obviously. The one i mistook you with.» His gaze fell back to the ground again.

Louis threw his head slightly back in comprehension. He didn’t know how he should respond without sounding nosy or impolite. It didn’t take a very proficient judge to tell that the topic was quite a sensitive one for Harry. _But he was the one to bring it up_ , Louis thought. _He shouldn’t have if he didn’t want people to ask him about it._ «Oh,» he chocked out. «I’m sorry to hear that.»

Harry chuckled darkly, letting his eyes wander over Louis’ features. «Something good came out of it, though. I learned not to trust or _love_ people easily ever again.»

Louis nodded his head in empathetic as if he had experienced the exact thing happening to him, but he hadn’t. He could not even recall the last time he’d been in an earnest relationship, it seemed more like a magnificent dream that never came true. «I guess everything does, in fact, have a bad and a good side into it,» said Louis thoughtfully. Maybe him arrving in Chicago did have a good side into it as well?

Harry smiled brightly, showing off his perfectly shaped teeth. «Wow, being deep, aren’t we? Are you a literature professor or something?» he teased.

«Actually,» Louis began, feeling the corners of the mouth pull themselves up in an uncontrollably smile. «I’m studying to become one.»

Harry shook his head, his curls heading into every direction. «Take my advice and don’t do it. Everybody, and I’m not exaggerating, when I say _everybody_ hates literature teachers in Chicago. They get pens thrown at them in every lesson, and if they’re _very_ fortunate, they wouldn’t get attacked in the lunch break.»

Louis pursed his thin lips, trying and failing, to keep himself from smirking. «Mhm. I have a feeling that by _everybody_ , you mean _yourself_.»

Harry scrunched up his nose and shot him a look of mirth and amusement. «You’re certainly smarter than I thought. You know so much about me already. Did Liam mention me a lot to you?» He sighed dejected. «I can only imagine the ghastly things he must’ve said about me. He surely made me look like an obnoxious molester who has no control over himself, didn’t he?»

Something about the way he spoke, the way not only his lips but his whole body seemed to participate in reacting, fascinated Louis. It was like Harry paid attention to each and every word that left his own mouth.

«He didn’t,» Louis giggled, knowing that it was only partly true. «I took a guess myself. It’s not strenuous to see that you are, indeed, a joker.»

Harry didn’t say a word, and his face turned an alarming type of emotionless as he stood up from the couch and started to walk nonchalantly towards a room, not even glancing back at Louis as if the conversation they shared a few seconds ago hadn’t happened at all.

Louis just sat there, looking absolutely puzzled. Was this somehow Harry’s childlish way of showing that he didn’t like what he said about him? If it was so, then Louis would indisputably understand what Liam had meant when he said that Harry never behaved his age.

Before Louis could make many assumptions and call their conversation over, Harry walked back into the living room, holding something in his hands that looked approximate to a mask. «You’re right,» the boy began before putting the mask, which turned out to be a Joker mask onto his face, hiding a smirk behind it as he noticed Louis’ entertained and surprised reaction. «I _am_ a Joker,» he said through Joker’s mouth.

«Wow,» Louis chocked out. «I can’t believe you did this,» he said honestly. The last thing he imagined Harry would do when he stood up from the sofa, was to walk back wearing a Joker mask to mock Louis’ former statement. «You _do_ know that this wasn’t what I meant when I said that, right?»

Harry shrugged as if the situation was the most normal one ever. «Whether you think I’m a joker as in a humorist person or as in the _real_ Joker, you might be right about both anyway.» He took off the scary mask, throwing it carelessly on the couch. Louis could only smile, surprised at the fact that he was actually feeling sort of happy despite this craziness.

«Now I’m assuming that Liam won’t open that big mouth of his, so could _you_ at least tell me why you’re here? No offence, but pretty boys don’t ever show up in this house unless I had called them in for a shag.»

Louis’ face started to flush unstoppably. He was yet to discover whether it was because Harry had just called him _pretty_ , or if the blushing was the result of how casual Harry was standing there, talking about sex in front of a stranger. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Harry was practically from the future, at least in Louis’ eyes. So perhaps people from the future were more comfortable by talking about such things. «Uh,» he stammered. «It’s rather a long story.»

«I’ve got enough time,» Harry clarified, literally jumping onto the couch again. «Because in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t do a shit for living.»

Louis snorted under his breath. Deciding the boy would never believe him if he said the truth, he chose to at least tell him half of it. «I, um, don’t really have anywhere to live, and Liam …»

«You’ll be _living_ here?» Harry interrupted, making Louis get the urge to strangle him for doing so _again_. «So that little fucktard just decided to let a random homeless man live in our house?» Despite what Louis anticipated, the boy’s voice didn’t at all sound enraged or indignant. Harry’s tone was closer to an amused tone than an angry one. Though it still did not help the fact that he was indescribably rude, and didn’t seem to grasp the consideration that his words may have been as sharp as a knife aimed at Louis’ heart. It felt like he was unaware of the appalling effect words can have, or maybe he was aware, but he just didn’t find it in himself to care.

Louis sighed. «I’m not homeless,» he said but sighed again as he realized that he actually was. «I just … I need to take a shower.» _Smooth, Louis_ , he thought. _Real smooth_.

Harry just huffed. «Well, good luck trying to find the bathroom because I won’t help you out with that unless you stop being a stubborn dick, and tell me why the hell you’re in my house.» _Now_ it seemed like his furiosity was getting real. He crossed his arms over his toned chest childlishly, waiting for an answer but Louis was most certainly not planning on giving him one when not even he had a logical clarification himself.

Louis hissed slightly, feeling his own face become red with rage as well, as if all the anger he had kept in was threatening to come out. «Okay then,» he spat. «I’ll be asking Liam instead. I’m sure he will help me. He’s not a disrespectful, immature person like _others_.» Just like that, he forced his cold body to stand up with the blanket still wrapped around him, before beginning to make his way hastily towards the direction he saw Liam walking in earlier. He knew that he wasn’t really that angry because of Harry, it was the time pissing him off. The time and the clock, and everything that had happened ever since he found the clock. They were all building up an anger inside of him that he just couldn’t control anymore. He felt like Harry was the perfect person to take his anger out on, he was practically asking for it.

«You don’t even fucking know me,» Harry shouted suddenly, making Louis stop dead in his tracks, shocked over the boy’s sudden outburst. «So don’t you _dare_ label me like that, you bastard.» His eyes were wide with fury, Louis could swear that he almost saw the redness that was gathering around Harry’s pupils, making him look like a bullock that’s ready to charge.

«I don’t need to know you _personally_ to label you like that. You made it pretty obvious yourself.» Louis huffed darkly. «Actually, I find it unreservedly hilarious that you’re so perturbed about people thinking of you as a bad guy, when you do absolutely nothing to disprove it,» he finished, letting out a deep breath.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Louis as if he was trying to read his thoughts. It was utterly clear that he was holding himself back from attacking him right then and there. «Your mouth’s really pretty, Louis,» he suddenly chocked out between his gritted teeth, faking a smile as Louis’ expression changed from proud to muddled. «It’s a shame you let such filthy words come out of it,» he said in a disgustingly flirtatious tone.

Louis felt his cheeks heat up, unsure if it was the result of anger or blushing, and prayed to angels that Harry didn’t notice that. He had ran out of comebacks. «I-I have to go,» he finally found his voice again, swearing at himself under his breath for stammering before vanishing from Harry’s sight. _How?_ He thought to himself as he walked. _How can someone so nice like Liam have friends like Harry?_ He was grateful that today was the last day he’d have to tolerate hat boy.

 

 


End file.
